Rotorua born actress nominated for Logie Award

PHOTO/SUPPLIED

A Rotorua-born and raised actress nominated for a prestigious Australian Logie Award says she treasures being a positive voice for Maori and communities such as her hometown.

Cian Elyse White told the Rotorua Daily Post it was special to be nominated for her role as surfer Hannah on TV show 800 Words.

"I just feel really humbled to be on that list, and be a Maori on that list."

The first series of 800 Words was a huge success in Australia, with 99 per cent of it set in New Zealand and 70 per cent of the actors Kiwis. It was also shown in New Zealand, where it proved popular.

White said she got to speak a bit of Maori on the show and being able to share her culture with an international audience was something she held dear.

White attended St Michael's Catholic Primary School and John Paul College, and still has family in Rotorua.

She said she had had a passion for performing since she was young.

She used to love singing and dancing and when she went to high school she picked up speech and drama.

In 2007 she went to the New Zealand Drama School Toi Whakaari in Wellington, becoming the youngest in her intake. She completed a Bachelor of Arts in acting.

During filming White took a huge contingent of the cast and crew, including all the Australians, to her family marae in Rotorua - Te Takinga Marae - to give them a taste of marae-living.

"It was an opportunity for us to bond as a cast and crew in a Kiwi way."

She said cast members also brought their children and she "got to show off beautiful Rotorua".

White said to be able to go back to her roots and show the Australians how important family and community were in New Zealand was special.

"I really think it adds to the end product."

She said what she enjoyed about being a creator was she could uplift the Maori voice.

She said she was so proud to be from Rotorua and having the chance to tell positive stories of indigenous people and being a positive voice for Maori and smaller communities in Rotorua was something she treasured.

"I'm humbled by that every day. It can be a challenging industry but I'm blessed."

800 Words is a drama series built around newly-widowed George Turner's (Erik Thomson) decision to start afresh and take his teenage kids from Sydney to the New Zealand coastal town of Weld, where George spent his summer holidays as a child.

In the town of Weld, George soon gets the attention of the locals when they discover he is writing about his new life in his job as a columnist for a Sydney newspaper, a column which always has an 800 word count.